Adnkronos International, Rome
(TNS) Ukraine-Russia President Trump Ukraine-Russia President Trump
(Adnkronos International) More sanctions and fewer weapons. Donald Trump’s strategy in relation to the war between Russia and Ukraine is taking shape through the ‘indirect’ decisions that the new president of the United States has adopted in view of the inauguration on January 20.
The latest signal, in order of time, comes from Scott Bessent, the man chosen by Trump to fill the position of Secretary of the Treasury. Bessent warned Russia, and in particular the oil companies, that with the advent of the next American administration they will find even more severe sanctions awaiting them.
“If any official of the Russian Federation is attending this confirmation hearing, they should know that if I am confirmed and if President Trump asks, as part of his strategy, to end the war in Ukraine, I will be 100% in agreement with tightening sanctions, particularly on Russian oil majors, to levels that will bring the Russian Federation to the table,” Bessent said.
However, there is another track that characterizes the action of the new administration. House Speaker Mike Johnson has decided to remove Michael Turner, who has always been a strong supporter of military aid to Ukraine, from the leadership of the Intelligence Committee and has criticized the resistance of Republican colleagues towards Kiev. The move was suggested by Trump, according to what Turner himself told Cbsnews, stating that the speaker cited “concerns in Mar a Lago”, Trump’s base in Florida, to justify his dismissal.
For his part, Johnson said Turner “has behaved valiantly in difficult circumstances”, but now with the new Congress there is a need “for a fresh start”, denying that it was “a Trump decision, but a House decision”.
Ukraine-Russia President Trump
The change in leadership of the important and influential committee confirms how Republicans, who now control the entire Congress and from Monday the White House, will want to drastically change their approach to the war in Ukraine, the Washington Post underlines today.
And the new direction of the Trump administration was articulated precisely by Marco Rubio in the Senate hearing for confirmation of his appointment as secretary of state. “This war must end and I believe that this must be the official policy of the United States if we want to see this end,” the Florida senator told colleagues, adding that “it is important that everyone is realistic: there will have to be concessions from Russia, but also from the Ukrainians”.
Rubio then pointed the finger at the Biden administration which in these almost two years of support for Kiev “they have never outlined the ultimate goal of the conflict. What exactly were we funding? What exactly were we putting the money in?”. And he challenged the mantra of commitment alongside Kiev for as long as necessary: ​​”On many occasions you heard, ‘everything that is needed for as long as necessary’, but this is not a realistic or prudent position”.
“What Vladimir Putin did is unacceptable, there is no doubt, but this war must end”, he then reiterated, adding that “the truth is that in this conflict there is no way that Russia can take all of Ukraine, the Ukrainians are too brave, they fight too hard and the country is too big”.
At the same time, the future secretary of state, who promised to engage in “bold diplomacy”, said it was “unrealistic that a nation the size of Ukraine, no matter how unprepared and how damaged the Russian forces are, can alone succeed in pushing these forces back to where they were on the eve of the invasion”.
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